Mar. 28, 2013

Written by

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

With such a long layoff between Michigan’s win over VCU on Saturday and Friday night’s Sweet 16 tip-off against Kansas, the game will be overly dissected.

So we thought we’d break it down even more.

Austin Meek of the Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal answered five questions about Kansas from the Free Press:

Q: What's going on with Ben McLemore? Michigan fans know as well as anyone the roller-coaster of freshmen, but this seems extreme for a potential top-5 NBA pick.

A: Basically, the only knock on McLemore this season has been that he can disappear at times. I can't recall him having a stretch quite this rough, though. Seems like he's a player who needs to find his comfort zone to play well, which could explain why he has been so much better at home. Some guys can get 20 on a night when the shot isn't falling, but that's not Ben. He needs to see the ball go in the basket, and that hasn't happened the past few games.

Q: How has Jeff Withey stayed four years? At his size, even a hint of raw talent would seem to have the pros interested.

A: When Withey transferred from Arizona, I'm not sure anyone realized his potential as a defender. Until last year, he was, basically, the funny white guy who came off the bench. He attracted some NBA attention for his defense last year, but I think he felt like he could help his stock by expanding his offensive game, which he's done.

Q: Bill Self always gets his teams to play stingy defense while still being among the scoring leaders. How difficult is that balance? And how remarkable is this achievement of nine conference titles in a row?

A: KU teams get judged by what they do in the NCAA tournament, but the Big 12 title streak is pretty amazing. You're right about the defense -- that's one constant with Self's teams. The offense fluctuates more from year to year, and this particular KU team has struggled to score, at times. But Self emphasizes being able to win ugly, which puts KU in contention for the Big 12 title every year.

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Q: The Jayhawks are known nationally for fumbling away favorite status in the tournament, though that might be a misperception now, right? With 2008 and last season, they've made a few recent deep runs.

A: Yeah, Self has done a lot to change that perception in the past five years. One downside of the nine straight conference titles is that, every year, you're expected to make a run in the NCAA tournament, so losing to Bucknell or Northern Iowa sticks out as a huge upset. The postseason success still hasn't caught up with the regular-season success, but winning the title in 2008 and getting to the Final Four last year helped with the underachiever label.

Q: In the few losses this season, is there a consistent theme with what's gone wrong with KU? Just missed shots? Withey have problems?

A: This team can really labor at times, offensively. The extreme example was the loss at TCU, when the Jayhawks had two points in the first 10 minutes, and Self was talking about losing to the Topeka YMCA. Elijah Johnson has been a bit erratic at point guard, and turnovers have been an issue, at times. Quick guards such as Baylor's Pierre Jackson also have hurt KU, which has people a little nervous about the Trey Burke matchup.